Shitty example then. I have a feeling she used that because a reasonable house in a reasonable area with a reasonable wage comparison wouldn't have given her argument much spine at all.
My 2 bedroom apartment in Boronia changed hands for $375k less than 2 years ago. It's a fantastic apartment with 3 bathrooms and 2 underground car spaces and plenty of space as a couple, let alone a single person.
Now not everyone wants to live in Boronia, but welcome to capitalism. It's not so bad - logistically it's 35 minutes from the city, 40 minutes from the beach, 5 minutes from the swanky hipster-ridden mountain cafés, 20 minutes from melbourne's most expensive suburbs and 15 minutes from a plethora of corporate jobs in suburbia. That's called living within your means and still enjoying life.
At 375k - let's call it 420k now (blaze it fgt) - even a conservative 50k wage working as a receptionist with 30% living expenses; a well budgeted individual would have it paid off in 15 years or less...this is assuming you don't earn a promotion or get a better paying job, and that you don't board out the second room or end up with a partner who can co-contribute for a massive dent on the principal and loan term. That is a real world example and something the dumb bitch who wrote that letter wouldn't understand - no wonder she's working in HR, HR managers are f**king useless cunts and in the words of Joe Hockey she needs to get a better job.